Source: BigCountryHomepage.com

Texans are falling behind the rest of the country in getting vaccinated against the most common sexually transmitted infection — making them more vulnerable to several types of cancer, a new study says. Human papillomavirus is preventable through a routine vaccine recommended by the CDC for adolescents, but Texas currently has the fifth-lowest vaccination rate in the country, says the study, released Wednesday by the University of Texas System Office of Health Affairs. The report lays out vaccination coverage estimates for 13-17 year olds in Texas based on data from the National Immunization Survey-Teen. According to the report, just 39.7 percent of women and 26.5 percent of men in Texas were up-to-date with the vaccine in 2016. Only Wyoming, Mississippi, South Carolina and Utah had lower vaccination rates. Rhode Island and the District of Columbia had the highest vaccination rates at 70.8 and 60.2 percent, respectively — both require HPV vaccines for school entry.